1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of personal health care equipment. It is meant to provide a more practical and convenient way to thoroughly meet the hygiene needs of a person confined to a bed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The personal hygiene of a person confined to a bed currently consists of sponge baths and whirlpools. Sponge baths have no means of shampooing. Sponge baths are appreciated, but many people complain, as do their families, that this method of bathing is not satisfying. Many people confined to bed state that being bathed well and/or having a shampoo would cause them to feel refreshed mentally and physically, (a good attitude may be conducive to the healing process). They also complain that it is difficult to get a hair-dresser or other professional to come to an individual's home, a rest home, or a hospital. One problem for professionals is inaccessibility of facilities for people confined to a bed. An example is, in home care, rest homes, and hospitals usually have bathrooms with showers, tubs, and sinks, but no practical access for bed-ridden persons. Whirlpools when available, do provide good hygiene care, but due to the fact that it requires at least two staff members to transport a person from one location to another, this proves to be time consuming and often endangers the patient as well as the attending staff.
The Prior Art shows certain apparatus for bathing and/or shampooing, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,971, 4,998,302, 3,694,926, 5,022,102, 5,014,471, 4,151,618, 4,660,233. While all these patents do exist and some may have been manufactured and marketed, all have been somewhat disappointing because of their impracticality and inconvenience to both the professional and the person confined to a bed.